It was concerning when Washington Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz went down with an injury in the first period against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night, as he was almost immediately declared out for the rest of the game by the team.
That concern now seems justified as the 31-year-old rearguard was absent from the Caps’ Thanksgiving Day practice.
No Schultz, who left Wednesday’s game with an upper body injury. Cholowski getting reps.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) November 25, 2021
The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir reports that in Schultz’s stead among the defenders taking rushes was Dennis Cholowski who the Capitals plucked off of waivers from the Seattle Kraken in mid-October.
Cholowski got his first taste of NHL action as a member of the Caps against his former team the Kraken in Seattle when the Caps were forced to dress seven defensemen due to a late Conor Sheary injury issue. He played 9:57 of total ice time in that game and was a minus-two.
He is a left-shooting defenseman so if he were to replace Schultz in a game we may see Trevor van Riemsdyk move back to his natural right side on the Capitals’ third defensive pairing.
Also missing from the rink on Thanksgiving was TJ Oshie who the team placed on injured reserve Wednesday morning with another lower-body injury. However, the aforementioned Sheary, free from COVID-19 protocol Lars Eller, and rehabbing Nicklas Backstrom all got a skate in donning non-contact jerseys before the team’s official practice.
Backstrom (hip), Sheary (upper body injury) and Eller, who just returned from quarantining in California, are on the ice ahead of #Caps practice today. All three are wearing no-contact jerseys.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) November 25, 2021
